Eiffel tower and Versailles Palace-the "monumental treat"

Finally the day came when we had to visit the famous Eiffel tower, which now has become the identity and symbol of Paris. One couldn’t possibly visit Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower. Even if you do not want to visit this world famous structure, you will see its top from all over Paris. The tower rises 300 meters tall (984 ft). It was built for the World Exhibition in 1889, held in celebration of the French Revolution in 1789.

 

The construction was only meant to last for the duration of the Exposition, but it still stands today, despite all protests from contemporary artists who feared the construction would be the advent of structures without 'individuality' and despite the many people who feared that this huge 'object' would not fit into the architecture of Paris. The structure took more than two years to complete. Each one of the about 12,000 iron pieces were designed separately to give them exactly the shape needed. All pieces were prefabricated and fit together using approx. 7 million nails.

 

            Eiffel tower is always a delight for any photographer-be a professional, an amateur or just any ordinary visitor. Everyone tries to capture the tower in its entirety , which itself is no less than  a challenge. We also tried our photography skill to click this magnificent engineering marvel from different angles. Although there was some drizzle, but still it didn’t prevent us from taking a numerous pictures of the Eiffel tower. We had just an hour to take pictures as we had a pre-booked time for going up the tower.

 

            Since we had already pre-booked the tickets for a stipulated time, we escaped the huge queue that is always seen at the Eiffel tower. We had to take two lifts to reach the top of the tower. One has the option to go on foot using the stairs till second floor. But to save time, we went by the lift to the top. The elevators had glass panes that give a breathtaking view of the city as also the height of the tower. Although the experience of the elevator ride to the top of the tower is full of excitement and thrill, for those who have phobia of height, the lift do give some nervous moments too.

            The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift, to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by lift. The tower has two restaurants: Le 58 tour Eiffel, on the first floor and the Le Jules Verne, a gastronomical restaurant on the second floor, with a private lift.

            The top of the tower gives a panoramic view of the city of Paris. The view of the river Seine and the illuminating city is a real treat to the eyes. At night the Eiffel tower provides an eye catching view and is definitely any photographers delight. We did take a lot of pictures. We spend half an hour on top and then came down. By that time it was dark and the Eiffel tower was already under illumination. Illumination Eiffel tower has an entirely different looks and sometimes it looks like a giant Christmas tree. We ended the day with all the glitter and illumination at the back of our mind and were already looking forward to our  visit to Place of Versailles - yet another architecture marvel and a prominent centre of French history.

Palace of Versailles: The town of Versailles is located about 20 kilometres outside of Paris. Versailles is best known for being the site of the vast royal palace and gardens built by King Louis XIV within what was previously a royal hunting lodge. It is also one of the wealthiest cities near Paris Those who know a bit of French history especially the French Revolution and the famous Treaty of Versailles would find an added interest to visit this beautiful palace full of history and a great piece of architecture. The Palace of Versailles, also known as the Château de Versailles, has been the scene for several historic events including the famous treaty of Versailles  that was signed  on 28 June 1919 within the Hall of Mirrors, between defeated Germany and the Allies that brought the First World War officially to an end.

 

            Versailles palace has a beautiful garden spread over 250 acres making it the Europe's largest palace garden. It was created in the 17th century by landscape gardener André Le Nôtre. The garden is laid out in a geometric pattern of paths, bushes, flowerbeds and trees. Le Nôtre also drained the swampy, sloping terrain and created a series of basins and a large canal, known as the Grand Canal.

Paris- a day at monuments and churches

It’s a strange coincidence that i have visited most of the sites in the world, which are associated with the world be it Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth or Vatican. It was therefore, an emotional moment for me when I visited Notre Dame in Paris. Notre Dame Cathedral is a historic Roman Catholic Marian cathedral. It is widely considered as one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and is among the largest and most well-known churches in the world ever built.  Notre Dame is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris as it is the church that contains the cathedra (official chair) of the Archbishop of Paris.

 


inside view of Notre dame
 

The cathedral treasury is notable for its reliquary, which houses the urported crown of thorns, a fragment of the True Cross and one of the Holy Nails – all instruments of the Passion and a few of the most important first-


Notre dame

class relics. Relics that are claimed to be the Holy Nails with which Christ was crucified are objects of veneration among some Christians, i.e., among Catholics and the Eastern todox.

 

 

          In Christian symbolism and art they figure among the Instruments of the Passion or Arma Christi, the objects associated with Jesus' Passion. The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. In Christianity, the crown of thorns, one of the instruments of the Passion, was woven of thorn branches and placed on Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.

          “Les Invalides” is another great piece of architecture that we visited. In 1670, King Louis XIV build the "Hôtel Royal des Invalides" for wounded homeless soldiers of its different wars .Les invalides, today is one ot the important monuments and attractions in Paris and is most popularly known for the Napoleon's grave which is located there. The building complex also houses three museums.

          The octagonal Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris. In 1763, a large statue of king Louis XV was erected at the site to celebrate the recovery of the king after a serious illness. The square surrounding the statue was created later, in 1772. At each corner of the octagonal square is a statue representing a French city: Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen and Strasbourg. It also has what is called Cleopatra’s needle and a statue of a galloping horse. Cleopatra's Needle is the popular name for the Ancient Egyptian obelisks re-erected in, Paris

          In the evening, we had the walking tour of the Sacre Coeur Basilica and its surroundings. The Sacré-Coeur Basilica is one of Paris's major tourist draws. The majestic building is located on top of the Montmartre hill. Due to its location on the Montmartre hill, the basilica towers have a height which is even higher than the top of the Eiffel Tower. Thanks to this prominent location the Sacré-Coeur Basilica is one of the most noticeable landmarks in Paris. The Sacré-Coeur Basilica has managed to keep its beaming white color even in the polluted air of a big city like Paris. This can be attributed to the Château-Landon stones which were used for the construction of the Sacré-Coeur. When it rains, the stones react to the water and secrete calcite, which acts like a bleacher.

 

It takes a bit of the efforts to climb at the top to reach the Basilica. There , however, are cable car like elevators which in itself look quite exciting to watch.

 

 In the vicinity of the Basilica is the famous Moulin Rouge - the famed cabaret immortalized by works by Toulouse-Lautrec among others. There is also Vincent Van Gogh's House near the Basilica where the artist lived with his brother Theo from 1886 to 1888. Also is the Place du Tertre, the charming artists square where works are painted and sold on the spot. The cobblestone street that lead to the Basilica itself is an attraction because of the souvenir selling small but beautiful shops. It is however, too crowded and a word of caution “beware of pickpockets” . I didn’t lose the opportunity to shop a bit and get hold of a few souvenirs including a replica of Eiffel tower to end the third day of our visit to Paris.

 

Paris-as seen from River Seine

Seine River has an important place for the city of Paris. As already pointed out in my earlier post, the Seine River divides Paris into two distinct areas, the northern Rive Droite (Right Bank) and southern Rive Gauche (Left Bank). There are 37 bridges on Seine in Paris alone; some of these are an architecture marvel in themselves. Pont Neuf is the oldest bridge build in 1607. Many famous attractions of Paris are on the Seine river banks, including Notre Dame, Eiffel tower, the Louvre museum, the Orsay museum and Palais de Chaillot.

 It was a great idea for us to have a river cruise. The second day of our Paris visit, therefore, began with the cruise in the river Seine. We had booking for the early morning cruise and we left the hotel at 8 am sharp. This time the weather god was in good mood and there was bright sunshine.

The cruise started with a warm welcome from the English speaking guide and the commentator. There was translation facility in a couple of other languages too. The guide was truly professional in his job and it added to the enjoyment of cruising in this famous river. The boat was packed to the capacity and the mood of the tourists onboard was exceptional.

One by one we started passing through the famous bridges and the sight of the famous monuments brought cheers to all of us on board. Of all the bridges that we passed through, Pont Alexandre III is my favorite bridge. Built between 1896 and 1900, this bridge is a mix of gold, pomp and lustre and decorated with Art Nouveau lamps, making it the grandest of bridges to span the Seine. It's named after Tsar Alexander III.

Pont Alexandre III

Pont Neuf, though not as grandeur as Pont Alexander III, but it did attract attention being the oldest bridge on Seine. Passing through the bridge provided the spectacular view of, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower which glows in the distance. Being at the Louvre the day before, we could easily spot the museum from the cruise. The sight of the museum from the river gave idea of why it is one of the largest museums in the world. Soon we came across the Eiffel tower. The view of Eiffel tower from the Seine is truly a panoramic one and tempted most of us to have as many pictures as possible. We also crossed other famous bridges like Pont royal and Pont au double but as I pointed out neither match the grandeur of Pont Alexander III, although all bridges have some historical value and significance.

Notre Dame Cathedral is another great piece of architecture that is any photographer’s delight. It’s a great marvel of gothic architecture. Its magnificent towers and stained glasses provided a breathtaking view under the bright sunshine.

The tour lasted one hour and is full value for the money spent. For those who are visiting Paris for the first time, Seine river cruise on the very first day will certainly give an opportunity to have a glimpse of major attractions of the city as well as give a feel of the city. We did the day cruise but the night cruises are also worth undertaking because of the spectacular illuminations of the bridges and the monuments at night.

A visit to Louvre museum , Paris



Louvre at night

Louvre at day

I entered Paris via Brussels and Antwerp. It was about 6 Pm when we reached the outskirts of Paris and it was Friday. We were greeted by heavy weekend traffic. There was seemingly endless traffic jam something which we find in Delhi.  It was little surprising for me to see such a jam, which I thought was something unique for the cities like Delhi, Kolkata or Mumbai in India. We were travelling in a group and most of us seemed amused and some of us exclaimed “it happens in Paris too!” Paris definitely is a big city especially when compared with Amsterdam, Brussels or Antwerp that we have been to before visiting Paris. We all looked tired and the sight of the heavy traffic made us feel even more tired. Suddenly someone yelled”look there is Eiffel tower” and the sight of that magnificent world famous monument suddenly made us full of energy and all the tiredness seemed disappeared. After a crawl of more than an hour, we finally reached the hotel- “Mercure paris porte de Versailles expo hotel”. The good thing about hotel was its location, which was near expo centre.

We had two full days at our disposal for sightseeing and we did make full use of it. The Saturday forenoon was scheduled for a visit to Louvre museum, which is the largest museum in the world. It is located on the right bank of the river Seine. The museum is housed in the Louvre palace which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Phillip II. Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square meters). With more than 8 million visitors each year, the Louvre is the world's most visited museum. Most of the paintings of the Renaissance portray a lot of nudity and a reluctant colleague did ask our guide what that meant. We were told that portray of nudity meant liberation of mind and soul and freepeople. Although, the guide, while explaining looked little uncertain himself. The Louvre also houses the Pyramid, which was completed in 1989 after the grand Lovre Plan was initiated by French President François Mitterrand in 1983.The glass pyramid is now one of the major attractions of the museum.But the most sought after object in the museum is the simple portrait of a sublimely smiling Italian noblewoman who the world know by “monalisa”-the master piece of Leonardo Da Vinci. Mona lisa’s real name was Lisa Gherardini and she was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a Florentine nobleman. Taking a snap of this master piece is no less than an adventure with so many crowds and everyone desperate to click this masterpiece. It needs a real nerve to reach near the portrait and get oneself clicked with this masterpiece. The popularity that this master piece enjoys can give complex to any living super star. Well I did make an effort to click my photo with the iconic master piece and was successful too.

 

 

 

Besides Monalisa the Winged Victory is another most celebrated sculpture in the world. The compelling marble sculpture dated 220-190 BC, is prominently displayed and is quite breathtaking. Venus de Milo, Napoleon’s apartment, Hammurabi’s code, cupid and Psyche are other notable works of art in the museum. Venus de Milo, is an ancient statue of Aphrodite Carved by Alexandros, a sculptor of Antioch on the Maeander River in about 150 B.C, It was found on the Aegean island of Melos in 1820. I personally found it interesting. The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code, dating back to about 1772 BC. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. Louvre also houses apartments of Napoleon, which we could not find time to see. That’s what happens if we are not well informed about the place. Antonio Canova's sculpture Cupid and Psyche is another attraction. Its an erotic sculpture about a famous greek myth. The museum is so big that entire one day may not be enough to see the whole of museum. Its always better to know the famous ones, so as to avoid disappointment of not been able to see these famous ones.

 

After spending the forenoon at the museum, we had a small round of the nearby areas. Napoleon's Triumphal Arch is another important landmark in the vicinity of Louvre museum. The arch was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his victories, but he was ousted before the arch was completed. In fact, it wasn't completed until 1836 during the reign of Louis-Philippe. The Arc de Triomphe is engraved with names of generals who commanded French troops during Napoleon's regime. The design of the arch by Jean Chalgrin is based on the Arch of Titus in Rome. In fact I am lucky to have seen both the arches. These arches resemble our own India Gate at Delhi.

We also went across the sculpture of Joan of Arc . We had earlier read about her in books and magazine. Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans", is a folk heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. She was born a peasant girl in what is now eastern France. This simple young woman from a small town in eastern France accomplished in her life and death. Joan saved her people and united all of France by winning several important battles at Orleans and Patay in what is now known as the Hundred Years War. Joan completely reversed the course of this war and kept France from becoming a colony of the English. The golden sculpture looks attractive and we could not resist taking pictures.

 

After taking a quick round of the area and a bit of window shopping, we ended our first day in Paris. Although, Paris is known for its night life, we decided to stay back in our hotel since the weather was playing spoil sport with drizzle and chill.

Places named "Paris" worldwide

USA

There are twenty three cities and towns in the United States named after Paris. These are New Paris Indiana, New Paris Ohio, New Paris Pensylvania. Paris, Arkansas, Paris, Dakota ,Paris, Idaho, Paris, Illinois, Paris, Kentucky, Paris, Maine, Paris, Michigan, Paris, Missouri, Paris, New York,Paris, Ohio and Paris, Pennsylvania, Paris, Tennessee, Paris, Texas, Paris, Virginia, Paris, Wisconsin, Paris Township, Michigan(Polish settlement),South Paris, Maine,St. Paris, Ohio,West Paris, Maine.Paris Texas is second largest Paris in the world with a population of 25000.

 

Canada

Paris, Ontario is located on the Grand River in the province of Ontario. It is at the junction of the Nith and Grand rivers. The community was named for the plaster of Paris gypsum deposits here.

Besides, Paris Ontario, there is a small community in the Klondike region of the Yukon also called Paris. It owns its name to its large proportion of French speakers and the fact that its postmaster was born in Paris, France

Kiribati

Paris, Kiribati is an abandoned settlement on Kiritimati Island in Kiribati. It is one of several settlements on the island to be named after European places, along with nearby London and Poland.

Poland

In Poland , there are two villages and one hamlet named Paris. One village is located in the administrative district of Gmina Pokój , in south-western Poland while the other village is located in the district Gmina Znin in North Central Poland. The hamlet named Paris is located in the new mountains in the district of Krakow.

Estonia:There is a small village named Paris (Pariis) in Estonia

My Travelogue on Paris-I

Paris-one of the most visited cities in the world is often described as the worlds, business, cultural and fashion capital. It’s one of the most talked about cities and different people have different perceptions about this city. Here are some of the famous quotes about Paris.

 “A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.”
― Thomas Jefferson

“London is a riddle. Paris is an explanation.”
― G. K. Chesterson

 “... you’ll have to fall in love at least once in your life, or Paris has failed to rub off on you.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri,  Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

“Cities have sexes: London is a man, Paris a woman, and New York a well-adjusted transsexual.”
― Angela Carter

No wonder! I too was excited on getting an opportunity to visit this beautiful city. Although I have been to Chamonix in France earlier and was lucky to see the Mont Blanc-the roof of Europe, Paris always was one of my dream destinations in France for me. As I always do, I would share some of the interesting as well as lesser known facts about this beautiful city before I share my travelogue on Paris.

 Paris’s original name was Lutetia Parisiorum (called Lutèce in French), and the settlers there were Celts known as the “Parisii.” It is commonly believed that “Lutetia” comes from the Latin word “lutum,” meaning “mud.” So the elegant, glittering city that we all know, most likely was first known as “mud town of the Parisii.”

Paris first became the capital of France in 508 under King Clovis. After centuries with no unique capital of France, Paris retrieved its status of capital of France under King Philippe Auguste, who reigned between 1180 and 1223.

The Seine river divides Paris into two distinct areas, the northern Rive Droite (Right Bank) and southern Rive Gauche (Left Bank).

By law, no buildings can exceed six stories in Paris so that all have sunshine.

Paris is called the City of Lights but this has nothing to do with the illumination of the city or the Eiffel Tower. Lights in this case, means intellectuals, referring to the high-concentration of writers, artists and academics that have always been drawn to the city.

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who built the Eiffel tower also build the internal frame of the Statue of Liberty. The Eiffel tower is beautifully illuminated at night, for which it consumes 7.8 million kWh per year.

It took around 200 years to build Notre Dame de Paris (182 years to be exact)

The Louvre, which is along the banks of the Seine River in Paris, is the world's largest museum and one of the most well-known museums in the world

The famous Statue of Liberty which graces New York’s harbor was a gift from France. There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty in the middle of the River Seine and a replica of the torch flame can be found directly above the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed at Pont Alma.

There are more dogs in Paris than there are children, around 300,000 dogs.